Potd17 Dada

World War I The “Great War” So World War I started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand-heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne- got smoked in his convertable by a Boznian. Soon, these guys were pissed at those guys and they brought their boys and the other guys brought their boys and it was a big muddy mess with 20 million deaths and 40 million casulties. Some European artists thought that this was not such a great war after all. They wrote manifestos and began to make artwork against society and that societies cultural elements. This was anti-art that pooed in the very face of traditional European art. It was a reaction to Nationalistic and colonistic ideals of thier respective societies (which they believed was the root of the war). They sought out to make art that was not comfortable, not colorful, not aesthetically pleasing. They wanted to turn traditional art on it ass and have a clean slate.

Kurt Schwitters Schwitters was a German Collage artist who studied post Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and eventually set on synthetic cubism via collage. During the end of WWI the deutchmark tanked. Scraps of paper and glue were much cheaper and more accessable than paint was at the time, so these pieces were a natural progression for Schwitters. He often used bus tickets, newspaper and magazines for his collages. As an aside, I used to do quite a bit of collage work and seeing these in real life is pretty amazing. His cuts are made with incredible precision and look like they’re done with a scalpel. Bangin! Left Cherry Picture (1921) Mixed Media 36 1/8 x27 3/4 Right Oorlog (1930) Paper Collage

Kurt Schwitters

Schwitters was a German Collage artist who studied post Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and eventually set on synthetic cubism via collage. During the end of WWI the deutchmark tanked. Scraps of paper and glue were much cheaper and more accessable than paint was at the time, so these pieces were a natural progression for Schwitters. He often used bus tickets, newspaper and magazines for his collages.

As an aside, I used to do quite a bit of collage work and seeing these in real life is pretty amazing. His cuts are made with incredible precision and look like they’re done with a scalpel. Bangin!

Left

Cherry Picture

(1921)

Mixed Media

36 1/8 x27 3/4

Marcel Duchamp  Remember that one? Same guy. Bicycle Wheel (1913) Bicycle Wheel, Stool MoMA, NY Dada became a vehicle for a lot of silliness. The artists began to feel like art could be anything and made art that they just felt was absurd. They liked how it cheesed people’s crackers. Duchamp had other (better) ideas. Though Bicycle Wheel came from the collage aesthetic and he “just liked the way it looks” He began to push ideas and was constantly reading and inspired by current philosophers more than artists. New York at the time was not as open as Europe artistically. Though there were a handful of NY Dada artists, the public still thought that the work was shit. Duchamp continued to make these “ready mades” for a long time afterwards.

Bicycle Wheel (1913)

Bicycle Wheel, Stool

MoMA, NY

Dada became a vehicle for a lot of silliness. The artists began to feel like art could be anything and made art that they just felt was absurd. They liked how it cheesed people’s crackers.

Duchamp had other (better) ideas. Though Bicycle Wheel came from the collage aesthetic and he “just liked the way it looks” He began to push ideas and was constantly reading and inspired by current philosophers more than artists.

New York at the time was not as open as Europe artistically. Though there were a handful of NY Dada artists, the public still thought that the work was shit.

Duchamp continued to make these “ready mades” for a long time afterwards.

Marcel Duchamp Fountain 1917 Ceramic Urnial Fountain So around this time, the question of “What is Art?” arises. While the brunt of the Dada movement is bellyaching and making goofy shit, Duchamp thinks! He realizes that ‘Art’ is what the art establishment says it is. Art is defined by curators, gallery owners and museum officials instead of artists and the public. If it’s never seen, it won’t be recognized. Duchamp doesn’t like the idea of “art as an institution”. Duchamp was part of the Society of Independent Artists in NY. The SoIA would have non-juried gallery shows where all work submitted would be accepted. He signed the urinal “R. Mutt” to disassociate himself with the piece. It was the only work of art to be rejected after a heated debate that decided that a urinal is not art. This made Dadaists all over super pissed. Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object. -Beatrice Wood This single work of art changed the art world forever. It began conceptual art and put idea over execution. Oh, and the fact that it’s a urinal is a sweet “kiss my ass” to the art establishment. Well...maybe “kiss my ass” is a bit off; probably more of a “Drink my pee” kinda thing.

Fountain

So around this time, the question of “What is Art?” arises. While the brunt of the Dada movement is bellyaching and making goofy shit, Duchamp thinks! He realizes that ‘Art’ is what the art establishment says it is. Art is defined by curators, gallery owners and museum officials instead of artists and the public. If it’s never seen, it won’t be recognized. Duchamp doesn’t like the idea of “art as an institution”.

Duchamp was part of the Society of Independent Artists in NY. The SoIA would have non-juried gallery shows where all work submitted would be accepted. He signed the urinal “R. Mutt” to disassociate himself with the piece. It was the only work of art to be rejected after a heated debate that decided that a urinal is not art. This made Dadaists all over super pissed.

Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.

-Beatrice Wood

This single work of art changed the art world forever. It began conceptual art and put idea over execution. Oh, and the fact that it’s a urinal is a sweet “kiss my ass” to the art establishment. Well...maybe “kiss my ass” is a bit off; probably more of a “Drink my pee” kinda thing.

End. So Dada was kinda the first form of shock art. Doing goofy shit to shock people seems so sophomore-year-in-high-school to me. Thank The Great Odin for Duchamps contributions. Max Ernst and Jean Arp Switzerland, Birthplace of Dada (1920) Collage on Paper

So Dada was kinda the first form of shock art. Doing goofy shit to shock people seems so sophomore-year-in-high-school to me. Thank The Great Odin for Duchamps contributions.

Max Ernst and Jean Arp

Switzerland, Birthplace of Dada (1920)

Collage on Paper

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Potd17 Dada - Education - documents

1.Painting of the Day #17 Dada Aka: 2. World War I The “Great War” So World War I started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand-heir to the Austro-Hungarian ...Read more